5th Flying Training Squadron
The 5th Flying Training Squadron (5 FTS) is part of the 71st Flying Training Wing based at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It operates T-1 Jayhawk aircraft conducting flight training. History World War II Established as an Army Air Corps fighter squadron in January 1941; assigned to the Northeast Air District with P-40s and P-39s as part of the defense buildup prior to the United States entry into World War II. Was deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO), assigned to VIII Fighter Command in August 1942. It's P-39 Aircobras were deemed unsuitable for the environment for escort duty; was re-equipped with Supermarine Spitfires and was trained by the Royal Air Force. Flew some escort missions with VIII Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators during the fall of 1942. Was sent to North Africa in late 1942 as part of the Operation Torch invasion forces, taking up station in Algeria. Was reassigned to Twelfth Air Force and flew both fighter escort missions for the B-17 Flying Fortresses operating from Algeria as well as tactical interdiction strikes on enemy targets of opportunity in Algeria and Tunisia during the North African Campaign. Following the German defeat and withdrawal from North Africa the squadron participated in the Allied Invasion of Sicily and Invasion of Italy and subsequent drive of the United States Fifth Army up the Italian Peninsula. Engaged primarily in tactical operations after November 1943, supporting ground forces and attacking enemy targets of opportunity such as railroads, road convoys, bridges, strafing enemy airfields and other targets. Was deployed to Corsica in 1944 to attack enemy targets in support of Free French forces in the liberation of the island and to support Allied Forces in the invasion of Southern France. Continued offensive operations until the German Capitulation in May 1945. Returned to the United States and was demobilized during the summer and fall 1945 and inactivated. Air Defense Command Reactivated in 1946 as a United States Air Forces in Europe fighter squadron; was primarily an occupation unit at Schweinfurt and Bad Kissingen Airfields. Reassigned from USAFE to Air Defense Command in June 1947, equipped with F-61 Black Widows and assigned to Mitchell Field, New York to perform air defense of the eastern United States. In June 1948 the unit transitioned into F-82 Twin Mustangs. In the fall of 1949 the unit moved to McGuire AFB, New Jersey. In August 1955 the 5th FIS designation was transferred to Suffolk County AFB, New York. In the spring of 1957 the unit transitioned into F-102A Delta Daggers. In February 1960 the 5th FIS moved to Minot AFB, North Dakota and transitioned into the F-106 Delta Dart. In late 1962 the 5th FIS acquired two live lynx kittens ("Spitten" and "Kitten") as mascots, with the assistance of the Minot Daily News, after a farmer had killed their mother.Broughton, Jack (2007). Rupert Red Two: A Fighter Pilot's Life from Thunderbolts to Thunderchiefs, Zenith Press, ISBN 978-0-7603-3217-7, pp. 276–278. In the mid-1980s the 5th FIS converted to the F-15 Eagles. The F-15s only flew over Minot until the spring of 1988, when the 5th FIS was inactivated. The lynx den in the squadron was one of the few places where Canadian Lynx had bred in captivity in the U.S., prompting both the St. Louis and San Diego Zoos to copy it in an attempt to get their own lynx inhabitants to produce offspring. Several generations of lynx flourished there, and after the unit was inactivated, Delta and Dart, twin kitten descendants of the original two Lynx kitten mascots were donated to the Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot. As an Air Defense Command unit, the squadron's motto was Isti Non Penetrabunt, literally "they shall not penetrate", but colloquially to crews as The Bastards Shall Not Pass. Modern era Reactivated in 1990 as an Air Training Command (later AETC) Undergraduate Pilot Training squadron at Vance AFB. The squadron had trained pilots and pilot instructors from, February 1990 – December 1991 and since 1997.USAF fact sheet, 5th Flying Training Squadron Lineage * Constituted 5th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 20 Nov 1940 : Activated on 15 Jan 1941 : Redesignated 5th Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942 : Inactivated on 7 Nov 1945 * Activated on 9 Nov 1946 : Redesignated: 5th Fighter Squadron, All Weather on 10 May 1948 : Redesignated: 5th Fighter-All Weather Squadron on 20 Jan 1950 : Redesignated: 5th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 1 May 1951 : Inactivated on 1 Jul 1988 * Redesignated 5th Flying Training Squadron on 1 Jan 1990 : Activated on 16 Feb 1990 : Inactivated on 15 Dec 1991 * Redesignated 5th Flying Training Flight, and activated in the Reserve, on 1 Apr 1997 : Redesignated 5th Flying Training Squadron on 1 Apr 1998. Assignments *52d Fighter Group (1941–1945) *52d Fighter-Interceptor Wing (1946–1952) * 4709th Air Defense Wing (1952–1953) * 568th Air Defense Group (1953–1954) * 4709th Air Defense Wing(1954–1955) * 52d Fighter Group (1955–1960) * 32d Fighter Wing (1960–1962) * Minot Air Defense Sector (1962–1963) * Great Falls Air Defense Sector (1963–1966) *28th Air Division (1966–1969) *24th Air Division (1969–1983) *25th Air Division (1983–1987) * Northwest Air Defense Sector (1987–1988) *71st Flying Training Wing (1990–1991) *610th Regional Support Group (1997–1998) *340th Flying Training Group (1998 – ) *71st Flying Training Wing ( – Present) Stations *Selfridge Field, Michigan (1941, 1942) *Floyd Bennett Airport, New York (1941–1942) *Florence, South Carolina (1942) *Wilmington, North Carolina (1942) *Grenier Field, New Hampshire (1942) *Northern Ireland (1942) *RAF Goxhill, England (1942) * La Senia Airfield, Oran, Algeria (1942–1943) * Orleansville Airfield, Algeria (1943) * Telergma Airfield, Algeria (1943) * Youks-les-Bains Airfield, Algeria (1943) * Le Sers Airfield, Tunisia (1943) * La Sebala Airfield, Tunisia (1943) * Bo Rizzo, Sicily (1943) *Corsica (1943–1944) * Madna Airfield, Italy (1944–1945) * Piagiolino Airfield, Italy (1945) *Lesina Airfield, Italy (1945) *Drew Field, Florida (1945) *Schweinfurt, Germany (1946–1947) *Bad Kissingen, Germany (1947) *Mitchel Field, New York (1947–1949) *McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey (1949–1955) *Suffolk County Air Force Base, New York (1955–1960) *Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota (1960–1988) *Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma (1990–1991, 1997–Present) Aircraft *P-40 Warhawk (1941–1942) *P-39 Airacobra (1942) *Supermarine Spitfire (1942–1944) *P-51 Mustang (1944–1945) *P-61 Black Widow (1947–1948) *F-82 Twin Mustang (1948–1951) *F-94A Starfire (1951–1953) * F-86D Sabre Interceptor (1953–1956) *F-102 Delta Dagger (1956–1960) *F-106 Delta Dart (1960–1985) *F-15 Eagle (1984–1988) *T-37 Tweet (1990–1991, 1998–2006) *T-38 Talon (1990–1991, 1998–Present) *T-1 Jayhawk (1998–Present) Operations *World War II References * A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 – 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado * Maurer, Maurer. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force: World War II. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1982. See also Category:Military units and formations in Oklahoma Flying Training 0005 Category:Military units and formations of the United States in World War II